The third episode of The Last of Us has seen a barrage of one-star reviews on aggregate sites like IMDB, Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes for featuring a homosexual relationship between two characters - it's stunning that this sort of thing still happens in 2023.
'Long, Long Time,' titled for the pivotal song used in the episode, has been hailed as a rare and beautiful representation of a love story starting and enduring in the apocalypse. Bill is an extremely intelligent survivalist, having prepared for the end of days long before The Last of Us' Cordyceps infection leapt into humans, and transforms his house and yard into a fortress. However, one of his traps catches Frank, and this is a funny and fateful encounter that soon sparks a romantic relationship between the two. Their contrasting personalities and perspectives on life are a delight to see in a genre that is often saturated with nothing but nihilism and trauma. It is shameful, then, that the episode is bearing the brunt of low-scoring reviews criticising the inclusion of a gay couple.
Check out this The Last of Us shopping skit that pokes fun at Joel's ridiculous perma-crouching across the game!
Right now on Metacritic, the user score 'Long, Long Time' sits at 4.6 with over 500 negative reviews. I won't be repeating what they say here as you can imagine what the content is like, unfortunately. Over on IMDB, more than 50% of viewers gave the episode five stars, which is heartening, and the one-star reviews form a fifth of the total user reviews for 'Long, Long Time.'
While some have been surprised that the school section from the game, where Joel and Ellie accompany Bill to retrieve the car battery, was omitted in favour of Bill and Frank's story, it's been a welcome change from the original inspiration. “There's a great Bertolt Brecht quote that I'll clumsily paraphrase, but it's like, 'If you're not pissing off 30% of your audience, then it's not art,’” said Nick Offerman, who plays Bill, in an interview.
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“I hope that the gamers will understand that this is made with love and reverence. I could make a sandwich that nine of you would love, but one of you would not think that mustard should go with pickles, you know?” he concluded. Well said.
Topics: The Last Of Us, TV And Film